Two-time Olympic biathlete from Maine settles into retirement

Russell Currier normally would battle the heat of early summer by attacking it in search of world-class conditioning.

Russell Currier normally would battle the heat of early summer by attacking it in search of world-class conditioning.

Long roller-skiing treks on northern Aroostook County roads and target shooting at the Outdoor Sports Institute — formerly the Maine Winter Sports Center — served to create the foundational base for the Stockholm native to represent the United States in the biathlon at two different Winter Olympics — in Sochi, Russia (2014) and PyeongChang, South Korea (2018).

“I’d probably be in the middle of a heavy-volume week,” said Currier, who turned 31 on Tuesday. “Thankfully I did so much of my training in northern Maine where you get about one hot week in the year and the rest is either spring or fall.”

There’s no similar sense of urgency this year for Currier, who retired from the sport this spring after competing at the U.S. Biathlon National Championships at Park City, Utah.

“I skied pretty well, had some OK stages and was in the mix,” he said. “I didn’t have to go out there and there wasn’t a lot of (financial) support for it, but I wanted some closure instead of getting home from Korea and immediately moping around. I needed one final, definitive end.”

Retirement for Currier required just one true formality, notifying the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency of his plans.

“That part hit home, that part was weird,” he said. “Other than that you just let everyone know and they stop sending you training plans.”

To read the rest of “Two-time Olympic biathlete from Maine settles into retirement,” an article by contributing Bangor Daily News staff writer Ernie Clark, please follow this link to the BDN online.

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